Meta hutcheson Posted May 18, 2005 Meta Posted May 18, 2005 anvilpoint, we simply have no way of determining which sites will get "quick" reviews and which "belated" ones. As has been often pointed out, submittal date is no guide -- you have a "submittal age" of about 7 months. Your site could be 10 years old, or it could still be in development. WE CAN'T TELL FROM THE SUBMITTAL QUEUE. And we don't ask editors to waste their time figuring it out some other way. Better to review two sites and be ready to start on a third, than to spend the same amount of time figuring out which one to review first. alucard has gently suggested that you study the material readily available elsewhere, to learn about the advantages of the ODP approach ("not trying to do what you can't do at all" is by no means the least important.) The system isn't "fair". We lean over backwards to try to be not-too-unfair to people who don't submit their sites at all, but even so, people who submit their sites have an advantage. That's OK, and we won't be doing anything to try to take away the advantage you got by submitting. And the editor who reviews your site won't be concerned in the least about what other businesses might be harmed by listing you first. (Otherwise your site would certainly NEVER be listed!) So you have good reason to be thankful we're concerned about "being good to surfers", not "being fair to all the other webmasters."
ANVILPOINT Posted May 19, 2005 Author Posted May 19, 2005 Faireness I am not trying to say that you guys don't do a bad job, and has unpaid volunteers I have no doubt you do your best. It's the system under which you operate which seems to be cumbersome to say the least. It is important to any web master or web site owner to get their site listed in the open project directory, not for its own sake, but because it is used as an important sourse by the search engines. I have no interest in trading unpleasantries, so will now wait patiently untill someone gets round to reviewing my site. Kind Regards Anvil
ANVILPOINT Posted May 19, 2005 Author Posted May 19, 2005 volunteer editor I have checked back in my records and found that I had a confirmation e.mail on 8.8.04 that my request to be a volunteer editor was valid the reference number is enclose, and I have heard nothing since. 0ccdf9268b52ad6d2917c134114d2c86 Regards Anvil
bobrat Posted May 19, 2005 Posted May 19, 2005 You might be better asking in the editor app part of this forum, which will remain open.
Meta hutcheson Posted May 19, 2005 Meta Posted May 19, 2005 It may be important to the webmaster, but until it is important to the SURFER, it is IRRELEVANT to the ODP. Who decides what's relevant to the SURFER? The surfers who volunteer to edit the ODP. It is an imperfect system -- as you can guess from the fact that it is operated by humans. It is a very effective system -- as you can guess from all the importunate webmasters. But, I would argue, its importance derives from the fact that (unlike almost all other directories on the web now) it is built for surfers instead of webmasters. If we changed that, the ODP would soon cease to deserve whatever importance it has earned by its current approach.
ANVILPOINT Posted May 20, 2005 Author Posted May 20, 2005 But surerly with power comes responsibility Kind Regards Anvil
oneeye Posted May 20, 2005 Posted May 20, 2005 Power? We are a volunteer organisation that offers our work free of charge to anyone who want to take it and agrees to the licence terms. The responsibility for any commercial benefits lies with those who take our work and turn it into something perceived to be valuable - it is not of our doing. We are not in the least interested in the commercial benefits that accrue from any listing we grant, we simply list sites we think would be of interest to other surfers of the web. At our own pace. We are researchers if you like, compilers of a catalogue of useful websites. Not a listing service for webmasters - they exist and you can use them, that is their role. We don't compete with them, we provide something entirely different in concept and there is room for our way as well as theirs.
Meta hutcheson Posted May 20, 2005 Meta Posted May 20, 2005 >But surerly with power comes responsibility Yes, but who defines that responsibility? The people who gave the power -- who allowed editors privileges, and gave them tools, and published their work? Certainly, and thanks for the power! My best understanding of the good of the customer? Certainly, I always owe this to myself, and it ought not to be an easy debt to pay. The editing community? Certainly, my work would be nothing without the rest of them. Other people who understand my mission well enough to show where I did a poor job? Certainly, and thanks for the help! People who want me to do something else? Sorry, but absolutely not. Even the ODP staff and admins can't assign editors work; the community won't tolerate anyone else trying!
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